The Midrange Theory
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- Create Date：2022-01-19 06:51:34
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Seth Partnow
- ISBN：1629379212
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Summary
At its core， the goal of any basketball team is relatively simple: take and make good shots while preventing the opponent from doing the same。 But what is a “good” shot？ Are all good shots created equally？ And how might one identify players who are more or less likely to make and prevent those shots in the first place？
The concept of basketball “analytics，” for lack of a better term， has been lauded， derided， and misunderstood。 The incorporation of more data into NBA decision-making has been credited—or blamed—for everything from the death of the traditional center to the proliferation of three-point shooting to the alleged abandonment of the area of the court known as the midrange。 What is beyond doubt is that understanding its methods has never been more important to watching and appreciating the NBA。
In The Midrange Theory， Seth Partnow， NBA analyst for The Athletic and former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks， explains how numbers have affected the modern NBA game， and how those numbers seek not to “solve” the game of basketball but instead urge us toward thinking about it in new ways。
The relative value of Russell Westbrook’s triple-doubles
Why some players succeed in the playoffs while others don’t
How NBA teams think about constructing their rosters through the draft and free agency
The difficulty in measuring defensive achievement
The fallacy of the “quick two”
From shot selection to evaluating prospects to considering aesthetics and ethics while analyzing the box scores， Partnow deftly explores where the NBA is now， how it got here， and where it might be going next。
The concept of basketball “analytics，” for lack of a better term， has been lauded， derided， and misunderstood。 The incorporation of more data into NBA decision-making has been credited—or blamed—for everything from the death of the traditional center to the proliferation of three-point shooting to the alleged abandonment of the area of the court known as the midrange。 What is beyond doubt is that understanding its methods has never been more important to watching and appreciating the NBA。
In The Midrange Theory， Seth Partnow， NBA analyst for The Athletic and former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks， explains how numbers have affected the modern NBA game， and how those numbers seek not to “solve” the game of basketball but instead urge us toward thinking about it in new ways。
The relative value of Russell Westbrook’s triple-doubles
Why some players succeed in the playoffs while others don’t
How NBA teams think about constructing their rosters through the draft and free agency
The difficulty in measuring defensive achievement
The fallacy of the “quick two”
From shot selection to evaluating prospects to considering aesthetics and ethics while analyzing the box scores， Partnow deftly explores where the NBA is now， how it got here， and where it might be going next。
Reviews
Ward
，
As a sport analytics student this book was awesome。 Really interesting insights into the world of an NBA analytics staff。 I think Partnow does a good job of explaining advanced statistical concepts to lay basketball fans who are looking for a deeper dive。 I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who isn’t interested in basketball or data science though as it’s pretty narrow in scope。 I also thought there were a lot of footnotes and some of them definitely could’ve just been included in the next As a sport analytics student this book was awesome。 Really interesting insights into the world of an NBA analytics staff。 I think Partnow does a good job of explaining advanced statistical concepts to lay basketball fans who are looking for a deeper dive。 I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who isn’t interested in basketball or data science though as it’s pretty narrow in scope。 I also thought there were a lot of footnotes and some of them definitely could’ve just been included in the next。 。。。more
Dominic Carlin
，
Look， okay， yes， I'm a nerd。I'm not even a basketball fan and I've just read a book about statistical analytics in basketball。I just like sports and I just like numbers， okay？ Look， okay， yes， I'm a nerd。I'm not even a basketball fan and I've just read a book about statistical analytics in basketball。I just like sports and I just like numbers， okay？ 。。。more
Angus Lockhart
，
I don't know if I ever really understood why the chapters were ordered the way they were， but each individual chapter worked on its own and there is a ton of really interesting stuff in here。 I don't know if I ever really understood why the chapters were ordered the way they were， but each individual chapter worked on its own and there is a ton of really interesting stuff in here。 。。。more
Shrey
，
Basketball analytics for basketball nerds！ Totally within my strike zone （oops - sorry for mixing sports metaphors）。 I like that it doesn't shy away from including some basic formulas。 Basketball analytics for basketball nerds！ Totally within my strike zone （oops - sorry for mixing sports metaphors）。 I like that it doesn't shy away from including some basic formulas。 。。。more
Katie
，
4。5
Tim Tufts
，
Fascinating look at how tracking data and analytics have developed in the NBA and how it informs the discussions around the sport。 I had basically no context about basketball coming into it， but I subscribe to a lot of hockey analytics。 It was hard to follow some of the basketball specific details without that baseline knowledge， but the big picture about measuring and understanding the game was clear throughout。
Dana Stewart
，
Fantastic
Austin Montgomery
，
Perhaps I’m biased since I follow Anchorage Man and everyone else he mentioned in this book， but I thoroughly enjoyed this。 I will gladly recommend this to anyone serious about the NBA and also every Jazz fan who hates on Rudy Gobert
Nathan Fisher
，
Wish I could give this a 2。5 -- another book I'm very ambivalent about， and wish I liked more even as I like it just fine。 Grading against the curve of contemporary sports writing， quite good， but that's exactly part of my frustration -- why is it that contemporary sports writing is so lackluster， so allergic to prose？ This book is solid for extreme casuals — to be clear， I consider myself basically a casual as well， and yet a lot of the core of the book's content was familiar to me from consumi Wish I could give this a 2。5 -- another book I'm very ambivalent about， and wish I liked more even as I like it just fine。 Grading against the curve of contemporary sports writing， quite good， but that's exactly part of my frustration -- why is it that contemporary sports writing is so lackluster， so allergic to prose？ This book is solid for extreme casuals — to be clear， I consider myself basically a casual as well， and yet a lot of the core of the book's content was familiar to me from consuming basketball writing semi-regularly on a high-enough tier （and， of course， watching an above average amount of basketball）。 There was plenty here that I didn't know in particular， but this didn't radically or substantially alter my understanding of the game or of what 'analytics' is — I was left desiring a more intricate and ambitious book。 At times， this was concise to the point of abruptness。 I realize this is damning with faint praise， but that said， it's not bad at all。（There's an interesting little aside here about a team's analytics department having to be extra careful with their trade boards so as not to alert any of the current players of their thinking。 I'd be really interested in this dynamic of the front office / analytics / coaching / player nexus — obviously not all players are knee-jerk averse to the insights wrung from advances in tracking data， etc。 but even if they all say "it's a business" when asked， that has to be a difficult tension to resolve。 I'd be interested in hearing more about how Partnow and his colleagues navigate that terrain — analytics is， as he says， just another way of talking hoops — but it can also be a very relentless and potentially， as he admits， dehumanizing pursuit。 What that looks like internally in an organization seems like a suitable entry point to compelling writing on sports， that gets both its wonkiness and its psychological interiority。 Would have loved to hear more about that here — has anyone written in-depth about this？） 。。。more
MIKE Watkins Jr。
，
Pros:1。 The book provides a compelling theory as to why the midrange has "died" in the NBA。 Curry alone isn't responsible for this shift。 It was initiated with the introduction of zone defenses， which made it to where teams could "straddle" around a center， resulting in an increase of kick-outs to perimeter players。 Moreover， in 2004 the NBA introduced "freedom of movement" rules to restrict hand checking and whatnot on perimeter players。 This resulted in a more up-tempo play with fewer post-ups Pros:1。 The book provides a compelling theory as to why the midrange has "died" in the NBA。 Curry alone isn't responsible for this shift。 It was initiated with the introduction of zone defenses， which made it to where teams could "straddle" around a center， resulting in an increase of kick-outs to perimeter players。 Moreover， in 2004 the NBA introduced "freedom of movement" rules to restrict hand checking and whatnot on perimeter players。 This resulted in a more up-tempo play with fewer post-ups by bigs and more PnR's with guards。I think the most interesting revelation though of the midrange theory is this。。 "Two out of every three shots which were long twos in 2004–05 had been replaced by three-pointers by 2019–20。 The midranges that went away weren’t selected at random。 Rather it was almost exclusively assisted midrange attempts that had been subbed out。"Seth goes on to justify this shift by pointing out how efficient players became over time （even bigs） at shooting 3 pointers via graphics+his own words。 2。 I love how the book takes time to showcase the context around stats。 Learning that there are many aspects of the game that lead to a single rebound was mind-blowing， to say the least。 That instead of looking at who grabs the rebound， one should look at the perimeter defense and contest at the rim that resulted in the rebound。Cons:1。 The book barely touches on the whole midrange thing。。。so the title was deceiving。 A lot of this book focused on basketball statistics in general。2。 The book was a little too stat-heavy and not as elaborate as it needed to be。 For the typical stat junky I think manifesting a book with that ratio is fine， but for someone like me who loves the game but isn't quite as knowledgeable of the analytic side of it。。。。that's problematic。 3。 I understand that certain topics in any given field are not as interesting as others。 You can get the best professors in the world to teach some of these lesser topics and they still end up falling short of the more interesting topics。 However， I think a truly gifted writer is able to make the drop off from the most interesting subject matter to the least not so noticeable。 Seth didn't quite do a great job of that in this book。。。。the drop-offs were noticeable。 I feel like there were a few stand-out chapters like the midrange theory chapter or the chapter about the importance of the salary cap in dictating team formulation， but yeah。Cons: 。。。more
Ed
，
Big fan of Seth Partnow and devour everything he writes for The Athletic。 Really enjoyed the opening chapters， particularly the great analysis digging deeper into Westbrook's rebounding stats。 Unfortunately， the book thins out a bit after that and the final chapters seem like a bit of an afterthought just to up the page count。 Also， it would really have benefitted from better editing in terms of cutting down on unnecessary footnotes， of which there are many。 By and large - if it's important enou Big fan of Seth Partnow and devour everything he writes for The Athletic。 Really enjoyed the opening chapters， particularly the great analysis digging deeper into Westbrook's rebounding stats。 Unfortunately， the book thins out a bit after that and the final chapters seem like a bit of an afterthought just to up the page count。 Also， it would really have benefitted from better editing in terms of cutting down on unnecessary footnotes， of which there are many。 By and large - if it's important enough to include， then just include it in the main text！ 。。。more
Stephen Noh
，
You will for sure learn something reading this bookThis book is great for people who want to learn more about some of the nuances of basketball and how numbers are used in sports。 I also enjoyed the random anecdotes and pulling back the curtain of what it's like to work for an NBA team。 There is a ton of knowledge packed into every page of this book， well worth a read！ You will for sure learn something reading this bookThis book is great for people who want to learn more about some of the nuances of basketball and how numbers are used in sports。 I also enjoyed the random anecdotes and pulling back the curtain of what it's like to work for an NBA team。 There is a ton of knowledge packed into every page of this book， well worth a read！ 。。。more
Michael
，
Best book I’ve read on how advanced basketball statistics and the underlying philosophy behind them work。 I really enjoyed it but for the over reliance on footnotes which were distracting and robbed the book of momentum。
Marcus Pacenza
，
Really interesting look at basketball statistics and analysis from one of the smartest writers in basketball。 Partnow approaches old tired topics of basketball analytics and breathes new life into them， covering topics from drafting rookies to determining player value to the "death of the midrange。" However， wish the book had more overall direction， the chapters don't flow well together sometimes。 Really interesting look at basketball statistics and analysis from one of the smartest writers in basketball。 Partnow approaches old tired topics of basketball analytics and breathes new life into them， covering topics from drafting rookies to determining player value to the "death of the midrange。" However， wish the book had more overall direction， the chapters don't flow well together sometimes。 。。。more
Zachary Knowlton
，
Any chance I have to read something from Seth I take some time out of my day to do so。 Incredibly stoked to have an entire book to gain some good basketball insights。 This is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about and grow in the sports analytics community。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Midrange Theory
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Midrange Theory&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Midrange Theory&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0